Karthik Raja

Biography:

Chennai-based Indian composer Karthik Raja was born on June 29, 1973. He composed the music for numerous highly regarded feature films, both critically and financially, after making his feature film debut in the 1992 Tamil film Pandiyan.

The eldest son of music composer Ilaiyaraaja is Karthik Raja. He has collaborated with prominent Tamil film music directors and playback singers on a number of noteworthy projects with his brother Yuvan Shankar Raja and sister Bhavatharini.

He attended Boston Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai as well as St. Bede’s School. Karthik Raja wed Raja Rajeswari at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India, on June 8, 2000.

Raja was exposed to a wide variety of music from a very young age because he was born into a family of musicians. His official instruction in Western classical music was received at the Trinity School of Music, where he mostly studied piano and was associated with Jacob John. Additionally, he received instruction in Carnatic music from Malayalam composer V. Dakshinamoorthy and T. V. Gopalakrishnan.

Raja used to go to the recording studios with his father a lot when he was younger. When he was thirteen, Karthik Raja performed on the piano for the Tamil film Ninaikka Therinda Maname’s song Kannukkum (1987).

Several such excursions ensued, one of which was providing keyboard music for the Nayakan movie’s soundtrack. Along with writing his debut songs, “Pandianin Rajiyathil” for the 1992 film Pandiyan and “Ninaikindra” for the 1993 film Athma, Karthik also orchestrated numerous recordings for his father. He also wrote some background music for the TV show Bible at this same period.

In 1996, Raja made his professional composing debut in the Tamil film Alexander, which was quickly followed by Manikkam. Subsequently, a number of hit songs emerged, such as Ullaasam, Kadhala Kadhala, Naam Iruvar Nammaku Iruvar, and Dumm Dumm Dumm. In addition, he made his Hindi cinema debut in Grahan, for which he received the R.D. Burman Award for Best New Talent.